How advancing AI is being used to enhance player experience

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When it comes to delivering an immersive, exciting, and balanced gaming experience for the player, AI is certainly one of the focus points for developers. From building realism in a virtual world to making sure a game adapts to skill level, it has an increasingly important role to play in the industry.

To take a quick temperature check on the importance of AI for gamers, just look at what can happen when things aren't up to scratch. It was impossible to miss the burning wreckage of Cyberpunk 2077 as it came crashing down last year, with a buggy and faulty AI on display for all to see (among all the other issues). The internet was quickly filled with clips of enemies spawning out of the ether and cars circling the same roundabout ten times before vanishing. The bugs were enough to ruin the game's launch for many, with underperforming sales the end result.

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Online searches reveal level of skepticism about 5G

5g smartphone

With 5G technology rolling out around the world and set to have an impact on many areas of life, there are still people who are unconvinced of its benefits according to a new report.

Analysis by Prolifics Testing of online searches looks at what it terms 'skeptical' searches -- phrases like 'is 5G dangerous?', 'is 5G safe?', 'is 5G harmful?', and 'does 5G pose health risks?'

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AI-powered Deep Nostalgia tool brings old photos to life

Deep Nostalgia

Most of us have old photos of family members, with some people having pictures dating back to the 1800s. If you've ever wondered what those ancestors would look like moving, you can now find out. At least to an extent.

My Heritage has introduced an AI-powered tool capable of animating your old photos. The example at the bottom of this story is a picture from around 1880. 

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New reporting tools help manage machine learning risks

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Machine learning operations and management software specialist Algorithmia is launching new, advanced reporting tools to help enterprises govern the use of ML models in production environments.

The top ML challenge currently facing organizations is governance according to the company's recent machine learning trends survey. This found 56 percent of IT leaders rank governance, security and auditability issues as a major concern.

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Americans flock to online banking -- but many still don't trust it

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Americans' online banking usage has reached 85 percent, with 25 percent using online banking exclusively. But trust is lagging behind.

A new report from NordVPN shows 40 percent of respondents report that they check their banking apps on a daily basis for compromises. 13 percent say they don't trust, and 27 percent have doubts about, their banking app.

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Microsoft Power Fx is an open source, low-code programming language

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Microsoft has announced Power Fx, a new open source programming language. The Windows-maker describes it as "a low-code general purpose programming language based on spreadsheet-like formulas".

The language can be used across Microsoft’s Power Platform, and the fact that it is based on Microsoft Excel means that it should be immediately accessible to large numbers of people, even if they would not necessarily consider themselves programmers.

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Microsoft makes Power Automate Desktop tool for Windows 10 free to help optimize workflows

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Whether you’re a system administrator or a Windows power user, the chances are that you spend lots of time performing the same tasks over and over again. To help with this, Microsoft has made its Power Automate Desktop tool for Windows 10 free for everyone.

This enterprise-quality macro-like utility can be put to endless uses, helping to optimize all manner of workflows by automating frequently performed tasks. Available to install free of charge right now, it will eventually be included in Windows 10 as standard.

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Micron releases 500GB and 4TB variants of Crucial X6 Portable SSD

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While solid state drives make wonderful internal boot drives for computers, they are also great options for external storage. Not only are they smaller than mechanical hard disk drives, but they use less power, and are much faster too. Quite frankly, if you are someone that needs to transport data on a portable drive, you'd be insane to still use HDD in 2021.

If you want a diminutive external solid state drive, you cant go wrong with Micron's Crucial X6 Portable SSD. Not only is the drive fast, durable, and small, but it utilizes USB-C too. Not to mention, its design is so cute -- I absolutely adore the square body and its rounded corners.

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Sony removes very important feature from PlayStation 5 video game console

Shocked gamer

Nowadays, video game consoles aren't just for gaming -- they also serve as media boxes, allowing owners to download or stream TV shows, movies, music, and more. This definitely increases their value, making them important devices for the entire family -- even for those that don't game.

With all of that said, Sony has decided to do something quite shocking, which is likely to upset many owners of both the PlayStation 5 and older PS4. You see, the company is discontinuing the ability to both rent and buy videos from the PlayStation Store. Wow.

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Microsoft releases Windows Terminal 1.7 Preview with support for single-instancing and remote control

Windows Terminal

It’s been a month since Microsoft released Windows Terminal 1.6 Preview, the first update in 2021 of its powerful command line tool. That brought with it a new UI for Settings, as well as various other minor improvements.

The software giant is now rolling out Terminal 1.7 Preview, a move which means Terminal 1.6 is now generally available to all Windows 10 users.

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A third of enterprises suffer unauthorized cloud access

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Last month we reported on public sector organizations suffering from cloud leakage. A new report out today shows that this is an issue in the private sector too.

The report from cloud governance platform CloudSphere reveals that 32 percent of enterprises have experienced unauthorized access to their cloud resources.

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Why supply chains are today's fastest growing cybersecurity threat

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Business ecosystems have expanded over the years owing to the many benefits of diverse, interconnected supply chains, prompting organizations to pursue close, collaborative relationships with their suppliers. However, this has led to increased cyber threats when organizations expose their networks to their supply chain and it only takes one supplier to have cybersecurity vulnerabilities to bring a business to its knees.

To this point governments around the world have highlighted supply chains as an area for urgent attention in tackling cyber risk in the coming years.

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Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 is finally here

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Back in January, we told you about Samsung's Galaxy Chromebook 2, including its specifications. This successor to the original is notable for being much more affordable while still being elegant and beautiful. And yes, Fiesta Red is still available as a color option -- along with the less-fun Mercury Gray.

Today, this Chrome OS convertible laptop with a 13.3-inch QLED touchscreen display finally becomes available for purchase. Pricing starts at just $549, and for a limited time, you will also get a $30 gift card to use on a future purchase, such as a laptop bag, mouse, or other accessory.

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Fresh ideas: How Amazon Is transforming the grocery industry

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Since the first supermarket was opened in the US in 1930, the industry hasn’t changed much. Supermarkets are handy places for us to go and pick up what we need, when we need it, all from one place. It’s fair to say that expectations are limited when it comes to supermarkets -- customers know what’s coming: baskets, shelves, and checkouts. However, this all changed when Amazon opened its first physical grocery store location in 2018, Amazon Go.

The move created shockwaves throughout the grocery industry for one major reason -- there are no checkouts at Amazon Go. In this article, we look at all the latest grocery innovations Amazon has brought to the table.

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Tightly knit information security and knowledge management together

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Cyber criminals have thrived during this pandemic. In the first quarter of 2020, DDoS attacks rose by 278 percent compared to the corresponding quarter in the previous year. UK business alone are estimated to have lost over £6.2 million to cyber scams through social engineering. Globally, taking advantage of people’s vulnerabilities and the overnight pivot to 'working from home', fraudsters tricked people into clicking on links to download malware and collect confidential corporate information. Threats of ransomware increased as well.  

It’s no surprise then that to combat this situation, many enterprises, and especially professional services firms, who have long been targeted by cyber criminals, view adopting need-to-know security measures as a priority. It presents a sound way to restrict access to corporate data to those who need it or are authorized to view the information in today’s 'work from anywhere' business environment.

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